Fiction
Farhad J. Dadyburjor has been an entertainment and lifestyle journalist for over twenty years. Born and based in Mumbai, India, he has held several senior editorial positions, including at DNA newspaper, as launch editor at the international men’s magazine FHM, and currently at The Leela Magazine. His debut novel, How I Got Lucky, was a satire on India’s celebrity culture. His new novel ‘The Other Man’ is possibly the first gay romcom set in modern-day Mumbai to be published internationally. It is a funny, endearing, big-hearted book about a young man who is searching for the courage to be himself—and love who and the way he wants. @farhadjd on Instagram
Mr Farhad Dadyburjor is known to be an amazing conversationist along with an outstanding storyteller and he did not forget to bring those to the table when he joined the conversation with Mr Ruhi Gilder who’s an interesting author herself. The conversation starts around Farhad’s new book, “The Other Man” which is the story of a closeted gay man who is being forced into an arranged marriage in Mumbai. The story in Mr Farhad’s words goes through a Bollywood style rollercoaster where the protagonist has to manage two lives in order to keep things intact and how those two realities come together in order for him to eventually come out to his family and lead to a happy ending. As Mr Farhad points out, he wanted the story to have a happy ending, unlike other famous Gay books that have excellent storylines but often end with a sad climax. Ms Ruhi takes the conversation towards how Mr Farhad developed characters for his new book and that’s when the accomplished author opens up about his struggles with finding relatable literature around his sexuality and how he wanted the characters to be relatable to anyone reading the book. While the protagonist was very much inspired by Mr Farhad himself, the hardest character for him to write was Disha, the girl protagonist is getting married to. As the conversation closes to an end, Mr Farhad and Ms Ruhi find themselves in agreement that “The Other Man” is a breath of fresh air if not more.